June 29, 2020
Week 8: "We've become too sensitive" Lewis
To:
120 Conservative MPs, 19 Conservative Senators, 8 online petitioners; 10 email survey respondents; 6 mail canvassers; 328
+38
reporters and commentators; 25 trustee candidates and trustees; 25 of the many voters who are very concerned about our "one-size-fits-all" school boards; and 517
+63
generally interested folks including members of the Social Mavrik Federation.
From:
Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation
Disclaimer:
If you want your email address removed from my list, please reply to this email with "No more" in the subject line.
This copy of my 8th weekly endorsement message
is sent to the email inbox of:
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CAMPBELL RIVER:
Bob Bray is pleased to announce that this week's endorsement by paid-up members of the Social Mavrik Federation for leader of the Conservative Party of Canada goes to Leslyn Lewis and is happy to refer to her as
"We've become too sensitive" Lewis.
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Week 8: "We've become too sensitive" Lewis
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Leslyn Lewis stated, "we've become too sensitive" during an interview with Saskatchewan's CKOM radio host John Gormley. The audio link and a transcript from the June 23rd interview are below.
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The link to the 13-minute audio recording is
here.
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The gently edited transcript, a 6 minute read:
John Gormley:
One of the names in the Conservative Party leadership race is getting an awful lot of buzz.
Especially here in Saskatchewan, the most conservative part of the entire country.
Would you like to count the number of Liberal and NDP MPs? Out of 14? None
Would you like to look at polling? Consistently over 52-55% of people here in Saskatchewan vote Conservative federally. It’s the way we are.
So who’s the candidate getting the buzz?
Leslyn Lewis.
A Toronto candidate. A lawyer – law degree at Osgoode, recently got a PhD in international law from that university. Also has a Masters in environmental studies and an MBA. She has run in past as a conservative federally, but her profile as somebody who is not an MP or doesn’t have a national position at this point has been relatively low. Why are people talking about her? Well we’re going to determine that, now.
Ms. Lewis, thank you so much for taking our call. It’s great to finally chat.
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Leslyn Lewis:
Oh, it's great to be here. Thanks for having me.
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John:
You came to Canada as a little one. Five years old. Six kids in the family. You’re the baby. Family came from Jamaica.
What’s your experience in the Conservative Party that differentiates you from those other candidates?
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Leslyn:
Well, I think that my experience is that I just have a great story of the Canadian dream, of why my parents left their warm country, comfortable, to come here. It was because they wanted the opportunity for their children. They wanted to give their children even a greater chance of succeeding than they had.
Canada is a beacon of hope and opportunity and the best country in the world. They came here because of the Canadian values: democracy, freedom and respect for the rule of law. Some of these things we didn’t have back in our country. So this is why they came here. This is also why I am running because I would like to see us maintain those things.
I've been watching over the last 5 years here, you know, Trudeau has been telling us we don't have a Canadian identity. These are things that my parents came here because that identity is so great. What we stood for is so great in Canada. I want to maintain that.
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John:
In terms of conservative values you have been unapologetically and pretty clearly outspoken whereas the two supposed front runners tend to mute and moderate.
Is it a risk that you're too conservative?
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Leslyn:
No. I think it's a risk that they are not conservative enough. Because right now I am doing very well in being true to the conservative values that brought my parents here and that I was raised on. I was raised in a pretty religious family. We respected God and we respected our country and those things came first in our responsibility, our personal responsibility. Those are things that we were taught. We were taught not to take handouts from the government unless you needed it. If there was a reason for it. But as someone who is able bodied we were always taught to make the biggest contribution to the country and put your country first. That’s just things that are natural to me.
I think that our Party has bought into a false media narrative that if you aspire to be conservative and and invoke those values then the country won't accept you. I don't buy that narrative. That's what I have pushed forth.
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John:
Leslyn Lewis in Toronto, Conservative Party leadership candidate.
You've never held elected office. Is that an impediment for a leadership campaign?
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Leslyn:
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Well it has actually worked out to be a benefit, a blessing, in my campaign because people see me as very authentic. I entered the contest directly. I don't have script for it. I just tell people why I'm running. I'm very forthright about the fact that I'm concerned about the direction of the country. I am very concerned that the Canada that I grew up in will not be here. I also have experience. I've worked in business. I built a business, I mortgaged my home to pay salaries for my employees when times were tough in 2009. I made sure that I created opportunities for Canadians. I taught the next generation of Canadians in universities. I volunteered in very high risk communities, high crime communities. I volunteered in jails. I've done things that the average Canadian respects.
I worked hard at the EDA. I believe that the EDA level is what’s sustaining the party. I respect people in the grassroots and people appreciate that. They see the skills that I have in international law representing Canadian corporations, selling their products abroad. They see that as highly transferable skills. And the skills that we need. Those are kind of antithetical to what are our current Prime Minister has. People see it as a breath of fresh air that somebody's going in with business experience.
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John:
What is Mr Trudeau the most vulnerable on? If you were the leader, standing across at your podium and his podium in an election, where would you find him most vulnerable?
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Leslyn:
Well, there's a lot of areas that I find him most vulnerable.
I think you know our Foreign Relations. That's something I believe we have to restore, respect for our country around the world.
I think our economy. We haven't had cost impact assessments of certain things in our economy. For example, people want to know what the cost of COVID is going to be. We're not saying that we didn't need to make these concessions and these handouts. What we're saying is we want to know what the cost is. It is it going to be another tax? We need to know exactly what our government is doing and so I think he has also a lot of vulnerabilities.
He's been successful in dividing people. I'm a unifier. I'm bringing people together. I'm saying you know what Canadians? We are the best. We’re the best in the world. Yes we can get better, but I'm not going to dump on Canadians and make them feel that our country is not a great country. He's vulnerable at that.
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John:
As a black woman, and a conservative - the Conservatives had a female leader in the very short Kim Campbell duration as Prime Minister. But a person of colour, a female, from Metro Toronto, that's a new or a different thing. How does the Conservative Party accept that?
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Leslyn:
I've been in the Party awhile now. It's not as if I'm just a newcomer in the Party. I've done really heavy things in the Party like fundraising and been in EDAs. In 2015 the Honorable Stephen Harper requested that I help him in a riding that was plagued with a scandal. We needed to work really fast to save the reputation of the Party and to make sure that we were strong contenders in the riding. So I jumped in, last minute, and we had a campaign in 2015, in five weeks. We did very well. We got one of the highest rating in that riding history even though I didn't have any early election votes because I came in afterwards. So I'm not new in the Party. I think people are used to me in the Party. You know Conservatives are looking for values. They're looking for people who represent their values, someone who is not afraid to stand up for what they believe in and who has done the work in making sure that they are qualified to represent them and was not afraid. Nobody sees really my race and I don't see theirs. We just look at doing the best for our country.
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John:
Leslyn Lewis is in Toronto. Conservative leadership candidate.
So I'm curious on your own participation, I mean when somebody is winning or running for a leadership you're in it to win it, but then people say if you didn't win it you would be an exceptional member of an inner cabinet and to do that you should seek a seat in any event. So are you going to seek a seat in the next election?
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Leslyn:
Well absolutely, but I also feel that question was not asked when I came in. Would I even make the high qualifications? People thought that I would have dropped out. I kept fighting. I kept pushing. I kept putting my message out there so that Conservatives can hear the message. When they do hear my message they stand behind me. So I think that I have a very strong chance at winning. The media is just catching on to that right now to say she's a strong contender. I have the true conservative values. I'm somebody who's going to courageously defend our values and our country.
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John:
On the so-called social values, the media is unrelenting, and you've been pretty outspoken on gender selection abortions which have become a huge issue in certain communities in Canada. You talked about human rights involving women, but as a conservative if you start getting into so-called social issues, doesn't that become toxic?
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Leslyn:
No, I don't believe that's true. That's another myth that has been put out there by the media. To be honest with you I'm probably as much a fiscal conservative as a social conservative. That's really what I thought I was until people started to label me as social conservative. I have no problem with that. The policies that I have selected are, actually they are unifying. Canadians have been fed a lot of misinformation by, you know, misinformation out there, and I have actually put policies forward with no hidden agenda. I've looked at policy that unify Canadians. Like over 90% of Canadians believe that a fetus shouldn’t be terminated because it's a girl only. So that's something that's unifying. I don't believe that just because we have social conservative values that all those values are only attributable to one segment of the conservative voting population. I think that there are things that unify us and that's what I focused on.
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John:
Last word. I have been refreshingly so overwhelmed and impressed by you. As a result of the social media: when you disagree with someone, they have triggered you, they must be silenced, got it. It's a mad world we live in. You've done a great job of stepping toward critics and engaging in a debate. Does that make a difference?
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Leslyn:
I think it does. I think it shows that we can disagree and we can have dissenting opinions and still be respectful . That's what I'm trying to put forth. I'm very concerned about our cancel culture approach. I'm very concerned about it on our democracy. I want people to be able to trust democracy. Even if somebody is putting forward an opinion or belief that differs from yours, let the democratic process unfold. Let's talk about it. Let's have discussion. Let's stop putting all these laws and regulations in that silence people and that criminalize people just for innocent speech. I want to get back to the way that we were when I was a kid. Sometimes we said things that were a little bit offensive and they weren't meant to hurt and so we apologize and we moved on. I just think that
we’ve become too sensitive
and it's debilitating to our progress, to our growth. I would like to see us get back to the good old days. The way we were, respectful, giving people equal dignity and respect, in treating them with equal dignity and respect.
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John:
Great chatting with you this morning. Thank you so much. Last word to you. What do you want to Saskatchewan listeners to know?
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Leslyn:
I want Saskatchewan listeners to realize that I recognize that farmers are the bedrock of our society. I'm very concerned about our global supply chain. I'm very concerned that we've taken farmers for granted and a lot of my policies have been focused on that. I am going to eliminate the carbon tax because I don't see it as having a good outcome for the environment, for consumers, and for producers. I want to make sure that that the products that are produced in your province can get to market. I'd like to open up those channels and get your product not only to our national market but internationally. I'd like to see them get out internationally and to really help the province develop and put some real tangible solutions in place.
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John:
Good chatting, safe travels, and will talk again soon.
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Leslyn:
Okay. Thank you so much, take care.
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John:
Take care. Leslyn Lewis in Toronto. Leadership candidate for the Conservative Party. Lawyer in Toronto. Just recently finished a PhD in international law. Also has a Masters degree in environmental studies and an MBA.
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Current mem
bers of the Social Mavrik Federation give this week's endorsement to
"We've become too sensitive" Lewis for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Our endorsement is graphically displayed in the Facebook section below.
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Membership in the Social Mavrik Federation
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I invite you,
Captain, to register as a Social Mavrik member so you can vote for your favorite candidate. It's an early vote with published results. You don't need to wait for the preferential ballot to arrive in July. And you can change your endorsement vote as the leade
rship campaign unfolds over the next
four weeks.
First action: mail the Social Mavrik forms.
Second action: participate in endorsement votes for the candidate who you think will be best for the Party and the nation.
The "Mavrik" part of our name is defined on
page 1 of the membership application form. The "Social" part of our name symbolizes our rejection of the turbulent modern liberal world view based on identity politics. "Social" emphasizes that the basic social unit is the family. It is further explained on
page 2 of the membership application form.
FAQ #9: Why pay $30 for endorsement voting when I am a CPC member?
Put an early marker down for your candidate.
The Federation will endorse any candidate chosen by a majority of paid up members.
Add your support to the Federation's weekly Facebook and Twitter posts.
The $30 is a special 3-month dues amount for the duration of the leadership campaign. The usual ongoing membership dues are $10 monthly.
Mavrik members have full and transparent control of the Federation's weekly endorsement.
Current members need exclusivity to avoid having frivolous results
- expensive dues indicate seriousness
- personal information on application deters troublemakers
- application interview to confirm right wing attitudes
Weekly endorsement voting from serious members injects some fun into the process.
Announcement: The launch criteria for subsequent rounds of weekly endorsement votes in a single jurisdiction is changed for Rounds 2 or more:
- Round 1 - two members required
- Round 2 - two new members required (was 3)
- Round 3 - three new members required (was 4)
- Round 4 - four new members required (was 5)
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Endorsement Vote Round One Results
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Votes from the anticipated Round 2 will be shown in red lettering
So far 2 Canadians mailed their membership application and having been accepted as a member selected their favorite leadership candidate for endorsement.
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Provinces
and
Territories
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British
Columbia
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Saskatchewan
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Ontario
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7 provinces
to be added...
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Nunavut
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2 Territories
to be added...
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Results
From
Endorsement
Vote
Round 1
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LEWIS = 2
MacKAY = 0
O'TOOLE = 0
SLOAN = 0
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LEWIS = 0
MacKAY = 0
O'TOOLE = 0
SLOAN = 0
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LEWIS = 0
MacKAY = 0
O'TOOLE = 0
SLOAN = 0
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LEWIS = 0
MacKAY = 0
O'TOOLE = 0
SLOAN = 0
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Member Demographics
Average Age
Number of Children C
Number of Grandchildren GC
# of Great Grandchildren GGC
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Avg Age=76
C=7
GC=20
GGC=0
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GGC
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GGC
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GGC
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Avg Age
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Electoral Districts of Social Mavrik Members
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New members will be shown in red lettering
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Member Province
or Territory
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British Columbia
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Alberta
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Saskatchewan
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Manitoba
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Ontario
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Quebec
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New Brunswick
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Nova Scotia
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Prince Edward
Island
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Newfoundland and Labrador
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Yukon
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Northwest Territories
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Nunavut
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Member
Count
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3
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Member Demographics
Name of Canada Electoral District
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North Island--Powell River = 3
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Bob Bray, President, Social Mavrik Federation
Phone: 250-900-2422
Mail: 422-1434 Ironwood Street, Campbell River, British Columbia V9W 5T5
Email: bob.bray@socialmavrikbc.ca
Website: socialmavrikbc.ca
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The Social Mavrik Federation is a registered society in British Columbia dedicated to cultural politics through endorsing candidates for Leadership / MP / MLA / Trustee positions and supporting legislative petitions, as solely directed by its members.
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Topics covered in previous weeks:
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